Thursday, August 5, 2010

What kind of a society are we building for our young ones? What are their aspirations? Are they going to live in a country that is different from ours, one which is free and democratic? We hear from them in this year's National Day Message from the SDP.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR: Prominent blogger Tulang Besi has claimed that a well-connected friend from Singapore revealed that the island state has a new policy, which is to ensure that Anwar Ibrahim does not come into power.

According to the pro-PAS blogger, who operates the popular Malaysia Waves blog, Singapore's PAP government would throw its weight behind Barisan Nasional and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

The policy stated that Singapore would do its best to ensure that Najib remains in office following the next general election and the neighbouring state had devised certain measures for this.

Tulang Besi said this was because Singapore "hated" Anwar as the opposition leader was considered an "Islamist" who would strengthen Islam here and in Southeast Asia.

"A clear example of Anwar's Islamic leanings is his strong support for (the Palestinian liberation outfit) Hamas, while the Singapore government openly backed the killings in Gaza," he added.

The blogger also noted that Anwar's revelation on the link between Najib's administration and public relations firm Apco Worldwide had angered the Americans and Jews.

"When the Americans and Jews get angry, Singapore also gets angry," he said.

The Apco Worldwide issue made international news when Anwar accused Najib of having copied the firm's One Israel concept for his 1Malaysia concept.

His scathing attacks had led certain quarters, including Jewish organisations, to label Anwar as anti-Semitic, which the latter denied.

Singapore's ties with Malaysia had taken a positive turn after former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down in 2003.

Under the reins of Mahathir's successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, bilateral relationship flourished, with a vexed Mahathir accusing the new administration of pandering to its neighbour's whims and fancies.

Khairy an agent?

Meanwhile, Tulang Besi also recalled how the Singapore intelligence had predicted the fall of the PAS government in Terengganu during the 2004 general election.

Local analysts, however, had believed that the east coast state would remain in the Islamic party's stable.

The blogger said he was informed then that the Singapore intelligence was certain that BN would reclaim Terrenganu and had purportedly submitted the report to Abdullah soon after he took office.

"I am surprised how Singapore could obtain such accurate and classified information. So it is no surprise that Mahathir had accused Abdullah's government of being controlled by Singapore.

"PAS' defeat is important to Singapore because it means the defeat of Islam. Singapore prefers Umno because Umno can be relied on to stop the spread of Islam...." he said.

Tulang Besi claimed that Singapore's new policy also explained why Abdullah's son-in-law and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had launched a series of vitriolic salvos on Anwar.

"Many in Umno have accused Khairy of being a Singapore agent. I don't know if there is any truth to this, but Khairy's actions are in line with Singapore's new policy," he said.

On the same note, Tulang Besi said he could not verify the information obtained from his friend but noted that ties between Malaysia and Singapore had grown closer and Najib appeared to share a strong rapport with his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong.